Technical note: LA–ICP-MS U–Pb dating of unetched and etched apatites

Abstract

The same unetched and chemically etched apatite crystals from five rock samples were dated by the U–Pb method via laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA–ICP-MS). The objective of this study is to test whether chemical etching required for apatite fission track analysis impacts the precision and accuracy of apatite U–Pb geochronology. The results of this experiment suggest that etching has insignificant effects on the accuracy of apatite U–Pb ages obtained by LA–ICP-MS. Therefore, LA–ICP-MS is reliable for U–Pb analysis as part of apatite fission track and U–Pb double dating.